Drought linked to climate change has reversed a decades-long trend of increased global plant growth, according to a new analysis of NASA satellite data. “Earth has done an ecological about-face,” a NASA statement said. “Global plant productivity that once flourished under warming temperatures and a lengthened growing season is now on the decline, struck by

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It’s hard to know whether individual weather events are just random fluctuations, or whether they are growing signs of climate change. What we need to look for are patterns- is the weather changing? And how do the changes that are actually happening compare to those predicted for climate change? Three years ago, two federal government

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It was gratifying to see no less of a distinguished trio than Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, USAID administrator Rajiv Shah and George Soros acknowledge this week the connection between climate change and natural disasters such as the current devastating flood in Pakistan. This connection is not a simple one, and those of us

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The headline in The Ecologist, ‘Human response to climate change is making matters worse’, is a bit of a …… Upon reading the actual article, it doesn’t get that much better. A recent study has researched the impacts of human response to climate change on biodiversity. The study, recently published in the journal Conservation Letters, attempts

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The South Asian country of Bangladesh is one of the places in the world considered most vulnerable to climate change. It is also one of the poorest nations on Earth. In Bangladesh, reducing CO2 emissions and implementing cap and trade schemes are not the issue. Already used to catastrophic flooding compounded by intense poverty, Bangladeshis

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RIVERS OF ICE: Panoramic view of West Rongbuk Glacier and Mount Everest, taken in 1921 (top) by Major E.O. Wheeler and in 2009 (bottom) by David Breashears. (Photo courtesy of the Royal Geographical Society) View a photo gallery By David Breashears: For those who know the Himalaya well — I have climbed to the summit

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Winters come harsh and early in India’s Himalayan region of Ladakh, where the waning summer spells more hardship for thousands left homeless by devastating flash floods. In Ladakh’s main city, Leh, around 800 families lost everything in the torrent of mud and water that invaded their homes 10 days ago and killed nearly 190 people.

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The U.N. panel of climate scientists should be more nimble at highlighting global warming trends and at fixing mistakes, experts said ahead of the planned August 30 release of a review of the group’s work. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked for an independent review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) after the group

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